Keyword Research Ultimate Guideline

CHAPTER 1: KEYWORD RESEARCH BASICS

1.1 What is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of identifying words and phrases frequently searched by people on search engines. The content is built and optimized around these researched words or phrases with the ultimate goal of getting better rankings.

1.1.1 Significance of Keyword Research

Keyword Research is the initial step for every SEO campaign. Finding the right keywords and key phrases is extremely important as it impacts all the SEO related activities. The keyword research helps you in composing the road map for your content and help you list down content topics, perform on-page SEO, formulate outreach and promotion plans.
Keyword Search also helps you get aware of target audience trends and target market and helps you figure out what the users are searching for.

1.1.2 How Keyword Research improves the website’s traffic?

After carrying out successful keyword research the next step is to identify the amount of traffic these keywords can attract. Research is performed keeping in mind various factors such as user’s intent, popularity, competition, difficulty level, etc.

After finalizing the keywords based on the search volume and difficulty level, content is written around these keywords. It must be ensured that the content is SEO optimized and well researched. The content must be written according to the user’s requirements and needs as it is also a winning factor in achieving higher Google rankings.

The quality and credibility of the content have a huge impact on attracting users to your web pages. Users search on the internet for the sole purpose of gaining knowledge and information and if your website does not provide users with the desired information then it will lose traffic.

To ensure that users can access the high-quality unique content on your website, high ranking is mandatory. A top-ranked website can reach maximum target audience easily and hence result in more website traffic.

A detail-oriented keyword research process also helps you compose content relevant to user’s queries and topics of interest. The success of any website hugely depends upon the foundation its content is built upon. And that foundation is strong if the keywords are chosen based on relevancy and user’s needs.

CHAPTER 2: TYPES OF KEYWORDS

An intelligent approach for searching and filtering useful keywords is to conduct a detailed study of various keyword types. The keyword research plan must also comprise of the road map for using these different keyword types throughout the content.

2.1 Keyword Types

Keywords are generally categorized into seven different types and each type must be utilized in the content according to relevancy. As keyword research is a vital step while setting up your website or blog, it must be carried out with precision and expertise.

The types of keywords utilized in your content is a huge attraction for high traffic on your website. Due to this fact, an intelligent approach must be practiced while searching for your keywords.

The prominent types of keywords are listed below along with a brief explanation.

2.1.1 Generic Keywords

These type of keywords are used for isolating a particular topic but it does not restrict particular constraints related to this topic.

The search results for generic keywords give us general terms and offers people with a large pool of options to choose from.

This keyword type is also commonly termed as “short tail” keywords as they comprise of maximum two words only.

Examples of generic keywords include the following:

• SEO
• Search Engines
• Keyword Search
• On-page SEO
• Digital Marketing

Why shouldn’t we use Generic Keywords?

Generic keywords must not be preferred for use in your website or blog because of the following factors:

• Generic keywords are widely used and almost every manufacturer or company will be using it.
• In this type, the user’s intent is not clearly defined due to which researchers are not filtered properly.
• The competition for these keywords will be very high and the conversion rate is very low as compared to the expenses.

2.1.2 Brand Keywords

These comprise of the particular brand names you are searching for via search engines. This keyword type is a step ahead of generic keywords but it also lacks representation of user intention.

The users may be searching for product prices, buying methods, specifications, reviews, etc.

These keywords must not be used as your root keywords because in this case, you will be on a head to head competition with the brand.

The users prefer official brand websites rather than other sites in the majority of the cases.

A few examples are mentioned below :

• Canon Camera
• Nova phone series
• Samsung LEDs
• Nikon lenses
• Mango Clothes

2.1.3 Broad Keywords

These keywords are a bit more specific and provide more narrowed down results as compared to the above-mentioned keyword types.

Broad keywords tell you what kind of product or services you are searching for but it will not give you an exact result of the product brand and other such categories.

The examples of broad keywords include the following:

• Running shoes
• Gym sneakers
• SEO strategies
• Motivational books
• Dress pants

2.1.4 Exact Keywords

This keyword type comprises of relatively clear information about a certain product, service or term.

Users with both informational and commercial intent usually search for these type of keywords.

Exact keywords have a high value of search volume and can give you a high conversion rate as well.

Examples of exact keywords include :

• Nova 3 case
• Football shoe review
• Best clothing brand
• Best gym clothes
• Best diet food recipes

2.1.5 Long-Tail Keywords

Almost 70% of terms searched on different search engines are composed of long-tail keywords. The positives of these type of keywords include the following :

• Highest conversion rates
• The competition level is less

These keywords have less search volume relative to other above-mentioned types, but the combination of these three factors make them the perfect keyword types for searching.

A few examples of Long-tail keywords are listed below:

• Which mobile phone has the largest screen size?
• How to grab your first job on Upwork?
• Booking tickets for a flight to Istanbul
• Which shoes are best for playing basketball?
• Best noise-canceling headsets for office

2.1.6 Buyer Keywords

The buyer keywords are searched by people who are ready to buy a product, service or any other such option by making an online transaction.

People with a transactional intent are on the internet to buy something and at that moment it’s very important to show up your website’s page at the top.

A few examples of buyer keywords include:

• Buy Boss headsets
• Buy birthday decorations online
• Taco bell discount coupons
• Buy canvas shoes

2.1.7 Tyre Kicker Keywords

The term tyre kicker means a person or an activity who is most probably going to waste your time as well as resources.

This type is the exact antonym for buyer keywords type, these keywords are generally browsed by people who are looking for something free on the internet.

Common examples of Tyre Kicker keywords include:

• Download Hollywood movie for free
• Watch Game of Thrones Season 8 online
• Free guitar lessons
• Download free ebooks

These keywords must be avoided normally but can be used strategically to attract users.

You must try that the users redirected by using these keywords are later converted to returning visitors.

2.2 Which Keyword Types should we prefer?

Each business has its type of business goals and milestones and we cannot use only one keyword type throughout the whole website.

The focus keywords associated with any business cannot be restricted to a single keyword type. The content of a website or a blog comprises of different keywords depending upon the business type.

The preferred keyword types include long-tail keywords and the focused user intent must be informational and commercial. The advantages of utilizing long-tail keywords in your content include the following:

• They have relatively less competition making them easy to rank
• These keywords enhance traffic to your website or blog
• Explain the user’s intent clearly
• They have a higher conversion rate

2.3 Keyword Types Breakdown

Keyword Research terminology is divided into 4 different categories:

Short tail keywords: These keywords are between one to two words long.

Long-tail keywords: These keywords consist of 3 plus words long and these are the keywords that you want to target to rank easily on Google. The reason is short-tail keywords are too competitive although they may have a lot of search volume.

Body keywords: Keywords that are placed inside the content body, in body keyword approach the words blend into the content to create an impact.

Body keywords must be chosen carefully as these keywords give the users an insight into what the content is about and contains details of all the topics included in the content.

Head keywords: These type of keywords refer to the keywords that are placed inside the post meta title, meta description, and the page title.

If your website is not in any kind of authority or you are just starting then what you must go for long-tail keywords strategy.

They are very easy to rank and this way you’ll start to generate traffic very quickly. So, it’s better if you have low authority sites then you need to stick with a long-tail keyword approach.

CHAPTER 3: HOW TO FIND KEYWORD IDEAS?

3.1 Steps to Find Keyword Ideas

To find the perfect keywords, you must be clear about the niche you aim to work on. After choosing the niche successfully, the next step is to perform extensive research on various platforms. The steps which must be followed while looking for amazing and high user demand keywords and phrases are mentioned below:

Step 1: Brainstorming

The selection of the niche of your website is also a time taking process. This is because some factors are considered during this time. These factors include your interest level and expertise on the niche you want to choose, stats of target audience, customers demand and popularity of that field, scope, uniqueness of your idea, etc.

The purpose of performing this initial step is to think of all the possible root keyword ideas. These root words are then entered in different tools for the generation of relevant key phrases or words with high search volume and low competition. Brainstorming involves detailed sessions with all the stakeholders involved in building up a website.

The keywords commonly chosen at first glance during these sessions will have high search volumes but they will also have a high difficulty level as well. So, during these sessions, detailed discussions must be carried out in which all the pros and cons of root keywords are weighed upon.

In addition to being aware of your interest level in the selected niche, you must also be sure of the purpose of your web-based project. People can make websites for both informative and business purposes.

If you want to develop content for informative purposes then the types of keywords chosen will be different from that of affiliate marketing or eCommerce keywords. The user intent while searching for a specific keyword or phrase can be of various types and all the possible scenarios must be kept in mind while performing this research.

Another point which must be determined beforehand is whether you want your content to be region-specific, niche-specific, generalized or based upon any of these amenities. After listing down all the requirements it will become relatively easier for you to focus on your research procedure with clarity and accuracy.

So, the deliverable after the initial brainstorming sessions must be the business type you want to focus on while building up your new website or blog. The next step is to discuss the popular or mainstream topics related to that business.

From example, if you are related to a digital marketing agency then the brainstorming sessions will mainly focus on topics such as:

•  Digital Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Content Building
•  SEO Optimization
• Blogging
• PPC (Pay per Click)
• CPC
• Email marketing and outreach
• Content Optimization
• Keyword Rank Tracking
• SEO Types and Techniques
• Marketing Trends
• Marketing Platform
• On-page SEO
• Off-page SEO
• SEO Audit
• SEO Tools & Plugins

This list can be extended even further as Digital Marketing is a broad field. You must be well-aware and well-researched about all the main branches of the root keyword or topic you want to choose for your next website or blog.

These core topics are not keywords, the keywords will be filtered out based upon these root words or phrases.

Step 2: Utilize Platforms for Searching Keyword Ideas

The most popular and reliable resources for researching keywords include the following:

Google

Google is the most popular search engine on this planet and around 1.17 Billion people use it for information gathering and research purposes. This trademark search engine gets an average of around 63,000 searches per minute. Keyword research can also be easily conducted through this amazing search engine.

Utilizing Google for your keyword research is very simple. All you need to do is type your root keywords or root topics in the search bar and google will give you suggestions via Google Autosuggest functionality. The suggestions are shown based upon the most searched or more popular terms searched by users.

After clicking enter Google will show the list of all the related search results. The most relevant ones will be ranked on top pages. Google also shows the most popular related keyword at the bottom and these results are extremely helpful for users.

With the help of these related keywords results, you can explore the chosen root words even further and come up with new ideas for your next venture.

YouTube

Youtube is also a huge platform for content and contains millions of videos uploaded for informational and marketing purposes.

Youtube Suggest is also an amazing option for filtering out keywords which are popular and have a good search volume. You can simply type your root keyword in the search bar and the auto-suggest tool will show you the most frequently search keyword suggestions.

You can also try searching the suggested terms to get more ideas and refine your content goals.

Reddit

Reddit is a diverse platform which has millions of unique visitors each month. This platform is often underrated when it comes to keyword research.

Reddit offers you a large pool of content composed by users providing you a perfect insight into your customer’s demands.

For keyword research, go to the home page of Reddit and search for a broader and general term related to your field of interest.

For example, Enter SEO as Keyword Research is part of this field, as a result, several subreddits will appear containing a huge variety of topics related to your field.

Reddit also shows you a few results which are related to your searched topic. These results can also be utilized to get more ideas for your next website or blog.

Keyworddit Tool

Another advantage of using Reddit as part of your keyword research procedure is that it provides us with user-centric and realistic results regarding popular phrases and words we can utilize in our new venture.

The Keyworddit tool has been specially designed to show the list of relevant searched terms along with the context and monthly search volume.

How does it work?

All you need to do is enter the name of subreddit and click on enter. It will scan the whole platform for relevant results and then sort them in descending order of monthly search volume.

It is a very helpful data scraping tool and you can m narrow down your root keyword research process through it in addition to getting new ideas.

You can also export the sored out keywords by clicking on the export button at the top right and organize your keyword search data.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is the most reliable and extended information repository with over 30 million articles.

Utilizing this source for keyword search process is very simple. You just have to search your topic along with a Wikipedia suffix. The results will show the most frequently searched query on this huge repository.

The SERP(Search Engine Result Pages) also reveals several useful and closely related terms which can be utilized for keyword ideas.

Another road map for researching Wikipedia is to search directly on this site.

For example, if your root word is Keyword research then the information shown as a result of this query will contain related terms which can be extremely useful for you.

The contents table will also highlight important topics covered in the search term.

Forums

The main focus of your content is to provide data and information which is user-centric. For that purpose, forums can provide you with a pool of ideas for your next project.

Forums give you a clearer idea of what users are searching for and what solutions or queries they need answers for.  For searching relevant forums you can type any of the variations of these queries.

“keyword research forum” 
“keyword research” + “forum”
“keyword research” + “forums”
“keyword research” + “board”

The results will list down the most visited and viewed forums relevant to your search query.

The forum will be generally divided into various channels and topics. These channels will also help you narrow down your keyword ideas and formulate the structure and hierarchy of your content.

For Example, if you have chosen your root key phrase to be “Keywod Research” then search on google using the above-mentioned queries. The results will list down popular forums with queries and FAQs related to this particular term.

Forums are highly recommended to be reviewed during keyword research as they provide us with a perfect insight into what users are looking for.

These forums or channels also help you prioritize your content according to the preferences set by real-time users.

The potential keywords extracted from platforms populated by real users are extremely helpful in shortlisting your keyword ideas.

3.1.1 Metrics for Prioritizing Keyword Ideas

The keyword ideas filtered out after going through all the user-centric content-rich and high traffic platforms are analyzed closely.

Keyword research is a lengthy and exclusive procedure and at the end of the day, several keywords are filtered out.

It is extremely important to prioritize these keywords and take a closer look at the pros and cons of using these in your content.

Keywords act as a bridge between websites and search engines and to make sure that Google understands your content, you must use the right words and phrases.

The search engines must be able to understand and translate your content correctly and that is possible only if you formulate your content around the right keywords.

All regions and countries have different norms and cultures, and as a result, the trending keywords for all these regions also differ. There also other metrics which are very important while prioritizing which keywords to focus on while composing content.

The most important metrics are listed below along with a brief explanation of why these must be considered during the research process.

i) Keywords By Region

It is extremely important to consider the region your website will be designed for while building up your website. Every country or region has different cultures, values, priorities, brands, and trends.

The keywords must be chosen according to the region they will be ranked well in. For example, the keyword “Taco Bell” represents a brand which is Mexican and is liked by the Americas and other nations as well.

But the same brand is not that well-known in Asia. So if your site is based on the American Continent then this keyword is highly relevant but for other regions, you will need to utilize other variations of this root keyword or choose another one.

Having a high traffic volume is vital for the successful reach of any website but the traffic must be organic and relevant. Similarly, region-specific keywords are also handy for driving the right traffic to your website.

ii) Keywords by Season

Some keywords are relevant only for a definite period. For Example during the holiday season in December and January keywords such as Christmas presents, Christman decorations, etc are relevant.

Similarly, during other events like easter, Black Friday Sale, etc certain keywords become relevant for some time and one can utilize these special occasions to drive sales o traffic through season based content.

iii) Keywords by Competitor

Another important factor which is very significant while finalizing keywords is the analysis of the keywords or phrases being used by your competitors. Commonly the top-ranked pages on a particular field or business are your competitors.

To beat them, you must be well-aware about the focus keywords they are using to get better rankings.

The above-mentioned factors are of prime importance and must be followed to rank your websites according to the relevant regions and seasons.

Step 3: Assessment of Target Customers

The webpages are designed to be user-centric. It means that all the content must be composed keeping in mind the intentions of users while searching through different search engines.

Users will simply type their queries and click on the search buttons. It is the job of the SEO professionals to formulate the content in such a manner the all the possible scenarios and queries are addressed.

High quality and precise content are one of the basic things which engage users on a webpage or a blog. More importantly, this good quality content must be relevant and reliable.

To assess your target customers, you must be well-aware of several factors such as user’s intent, trending keywords or phrases, popular queries, and topics, etc.

What is User’s Intent?

User’s intent is described as the information user is looking for while browsing on various search engines. The most widely used search engine is Google followed by Bing and Yahoo.

User’s Intent Types

To fulfill the requirements of the user’s and choosing keywords which fit their queries, we must also be aware of the intentions and goals of users while searching on the internet.

A better understanding of the user’s point of view results in a better content generation and high user satisfaction.

User’s intent for browsing through search engines is categorized into four further categories which are explained below briefly.

a. Navigational

In this type of user’s intent, they are looking for a particular website. The goal is to reach a website which contains required information or data but the user does not know the exact URL. So they type the web site’s name in any search engine and click on search.

The search results will show the most relevant websites and the users will be able to reach their desired web page.

Example: Typing “Facebook”, “Youtube”, “Gmail”, etc. or search engines will be included in the navigational category as the user intends to navigate to these websites.

b. Informational

When users are searching for a piece of information then the intent is informational. These users can include people belonging to any age group, gender or region.

The information available on the internet is in the form of a huge repository and can be accessed anytime from anywhere through an internet connection.

The results of informational queries do not show adds as the intent of the user, in this case, is not buying, the user is just looking for some useful information.

Example: If the user searches “How to perform keyword research”, the results will show the most relevant information related to keyword research. The websites showing in result will be blogs or technical information websites mostly.

c. Transactional

When users intend to make a transaction or purchase then the intent type is termed as transactional user intent.

Users have this intent for a variety of purposes such as buying online stuff, subscriptions for various tools and services, purchasing ebooks, etc.

To achieve higher rankings, the transactional keywords must be chosen, keeping in mind the popular products and services users are buying nowadays.

The results will list down e-commerce websites, online sores and other similar platforms where transactions can be carried out.

d. Commercial

The process of evaluation and analysis before deciding to buy or purchase products or services is termed and Commerical. Consideration of this user intent type is extremely important for your business because the commercial intended users later convert into leads and clients.

Focusing on commercial intent during keyword research is vital as everyone searches for genuine feedback and reviews before deciding to buy or avail online services.

The commercial intent affects the business to a huge level and sometimes its preference is even more than search volume stats during the process of Keyword Research.

This is because users with commercial intent are potential buyers looking for recommendations on a certain product or service. Using commercial intent keyword will direct a lot of users to your website.

Step 5: Analyze Social Media Trends

Why should we analyze Social Media for performing Keyword Research?

How to perform Keyword research through Social Media Trends?

Social Media Trends Analysis Tools

Native Social Media Tools

Step 6: Using Keyword Research Tools

Step 7: Checking Traffic Potential for Keyword Ideas

Step 8: Competitor Analysis

What is Keyword Keyword Competitor?

Why Keyword Competition Analysis is Important?

Chapter 4: Helpful Keyword Research Tools

Free Keyword Research Tools

#1 Google Correlate

Google correlate find queries with a similar pattern to a target data series. So, if we type in the word “lose weight” in Google correlate then you will see the results in related queries section that people are also interested in exercises, fattening and other similar keywords.

It offers all the similar, closely match keywords that people are searching for on Google with the exclude terms filter. You can export the related keywords list to CSV format without much effort.

Pros of Google Correlate Tool

1. You can find subtopics. (This will help you maximize coverage on the topics, that you can impossibly get rankings on that keyword.)
2. Find Hidden Gems (All the results that correlate tool shows are relational and not necessarily bound by phrase match or keyword matching as many premium tools do.)

Cons of Google Correlate Tool

1. Google Correlate does not provide any search metrics that accompany these keywords.
2. Irrelevant terms (You will often find keywords that have a low correlation such as mentioned in an example given below for keyword “losing weight”.)

#2 Keyword Shitter

This tool mines google auto suggest keywords based on the seed keywords. If I type in “Lose weight” in Keyword Shitter tool then it starts mining data from google auto-suggest. It’s simple and easy to use keyword research tool with limited search filters.

Pros of Keyword Shitter Tool

You can generate lots of related keywords (The main advantage here is you can generate thousands and thousands of related and long-tail keywords. They also have a nice positive and negative filter that you can use it to narrow down your list).

For Example, If I wanted to find modifier keywords then I can type in as best top 10 and 2018. This narrows down our results quite amazingly.

Cons of Keyword shitter tool

There a couple of major cons to this tool some of them are listed below:

1. It can take quite a long time to find meaningful keywords.
2. There is no search metrics.

#3 Keyword Everywhere

Keyword everywhere is a Google Chrome browser extension that aids inline view of search metrics on popular websites. All you have to do is to install the extension in your google chrome browser and sign-up for a free account and then enter in your API key into the settings.

Now when you go to any of these sites you will get instant keyword metrics. The screenshot is mention below.

So, if I go to Google search and type in a keyword phrase then it will show the various metrics right beside your target query and auto-suggestions as well. You’ll also see the related keywords and other keywords that people search for on the right side of the Google search results page.

Pros of Keyword Everywhere

The most obvious pro for this tool is that it offers you the search matrices for free that includes search volume and other prospects that we want to observe for our keyword.

Cons of Keyword Everywhere

Despite its matrices, there is one serious issue with it. They source their data from Google Keyword planner alone. That usually shows inaccurate search volumes extracted from google keyword planner.

#4 Search Engine Auto Suggest

You might think I am talking about Google, No! I’m not. There are numerous other search engines that you and I use every single day like Amazon, Pinterest, youtube and many more. If you are searching for the best gym in the USA. Then you will see all sorts of Great ideas that search engine generate for you as a long-tail query. Honestly speaking!

The query generated from these search engines provides better results than using just google search suggestions.

Pros Of Search Engine Auto Suggestions

These search engines offer more specific and more appropriate long-tail quires with the amazing list of modifiers you might be looking for with several variations.

Cons of Search Engine Auto Suggestions

One of the major disadvantages of using this strategy is it will require a lot of time and effort to compile data. There is a Lack of filters in search engine autosuggestions.

#5 Google Trends

This is one of the amazing tools that I use for keyword research. Using these trends you can see the past and present popularity of keywords or topics.

For Example:

If you will search for a selfie stick keyword then you will see that trends are pretty stable over the past 12 months and on the same phrase keyword everywhere show the monthly search volume of 200,000 searches. But that was incorrect.

The thing is search volumes in keyword planner are rounded annual averages. So, if we change the trends to the past 5 years you’ll see the popularity of keyword from the last 5 years. This way we can get a great idea that when and which keywords to target.

Google Trends Pro’s

A solid pro to google trend is that you can do market research on a niche, product or topic and get an understanding that it’s worth your time and effort to pursue or not. It offers user-friendliness along with data visualization. One can download its visual reports to make more prominent strategies.

Cons of Google Trends

Since google trends are based on popularity among all keywords and all topics you won’t know anything about search volume or how much organic traffic this term can generate for you. It’s difficult to find localized search data and actual search volumes that other free tools offer. There is only data for popular terms.

#6 Answer the Public

You just have to type in a seed keyword in it and run the search, you will see that it has hundreds of questions, comparisons, and prepositions. If we move to the question section and switch to the data view. You can see search volume since we have the keywords everywhere extension installed.

So, a solid benefit of using it is that you can find some amazing long-tail keyword phrases here. It also offers some great keyword ideas and low competition keywords. As for cons, the data is quite limited as compared to other keyword research tools available.

#7 Wikipedia

Wikipedia is an astonishing yet, most popular search engine that doesn’t need any intro. It’s the most popular among all and everyone knows it well, due to its diverse and vast data resources. Despite its data strength, Wikipedia also provides contextual keywords that might be useful for your site research ideas.

Just search for the Term you want to rank for, there you’ll find out the list of related terms that might suit you in your Secondary keyword research ideas. Wikipedia allows brainstorming your idea to cover all the details with more precision.

List down the terms that are most common to your primary key phrase, compile the keyword ideas in an excel sheet to analyze the keywords and phrases well.  Wikipedia allows researchers to find more related more summarised prospects, one might be looking for to get more understanding.

Another interesting way to do keyword research on Wikipedia is, just type in the key phrase with the alphabetic variation starting from a to z to find the best match Wiki auto-suggestion will show you great long-tail ideas that are related to your niche including every detail that you might be looking for as long-tail keyword.

Pros of Wikipedia

One can find a root keyword in the hierarchical term, with all its prospects listed in a structural ordering, containing a wide variety of different keyword ideas. Wikipedia search engine allows you to hyphenate your keyword research strategy to make it more powerful. You can use Wikipedia filters to generate more specific results with its variation in different regions across the Globe.

Cons Of Wikipedia

Aside from all, Wikipedia doesn’t offer search matrices that most of the keyword research tools offer.

#8 Google Keyword Planner

Google keyword planner comes eighth among the most rated free keyword research tools, offering one of the huge keyword databases to experts worldwide. The consensus made on google keyword planner in 2015, made him the best free tool that offers pay-per-click along with keyword research option.  It’s more logical, that if we use Google’s tool to conquer more keyword opportunities.

Pro’s Of Google Keyword Planner

Here is the list of Benefits that Google Keyword planner offers.

1. It offers a diverse set of database, as it’s the Googles own tool.
2. One can save their keywords on the keyword planner.
3. It provides a wide variety of filters to make your work more convenient.
4. Great User Experience with easy to use the menu.
5. One can have access to historical data.

Con’s of Google Keyword Planner

• Incorrect search volume.
• There is a very limited suggestion that keyword planner offer.

#9 Soovle Keyword Research

It’s going to be a very useful tool for you if you want to look at keywords ideas across different platforms. You just need to type in the keyword that you want to rank for it will automatically extract all the data at once from all the six platforms just like autosuggest.

Soovle offers you a single platform to search for the queries on different search engines with both short and long-tail variations. Soovle allows you to prioritize your engine first to make it a user-oriented look.

Pros of Soovle Tool

1. Easy to understand User Interface.
2. All search engines auto-suggest ideas in one place.
3. User customization
4. If you’ll click on any of the keyword ideas, it will bring you to that specific search engine page with that keywords variation typed in for you.

Cons of Soovle Tool

• It won’t offer Search volume and other matrices
• It doesn’t have any proper exporting data option to your desired location.

#10 Wordtracker scout

Wordtracker scout is a Google Chrome extension similar to keyword everywhere. Despite it’s easy to understand navigation, word tracker offers you to extract metadata along with keyword difficulty and the targeted keywords. There are some easy to use filters as well to generate results based on the specified location.

Pros of Wordtracker Scout

• Easy to understand navigation.
• Custom filters.
• Data Easy to extract on just one click.

Cons of Wordtracker Scout

• The limited number of results shown.
• Sometimes it shows irrelevant keywords.
• Search volume matrices are not available.

PAID KEYWORD RESEARCH TOOLS

Chapter 5: How to choose a keyword?

After going through the process of brainstorming keyword ideas and conducting keyword research through various free and paid tools, the next step is to narrow down your list further.

This involves the evaluation of these keywords based on several factors which are important for determining the keyword strength and feasibility.

Keywords serve as a foundation for any website or blog and we must make sure that a strong foundation is laid to achieve the best results.

5.1 Factors

The factors which are taken into account while finalizing the main or root keywords for your next project include the following:

5.1.1 Search Volume

The number of expected search results for a particular keyword or keyphrase with a certain period is called search volume.

Search volume is one of the vital factors in determining the strength of your keywords or phrases. It is used as a measurement metric for assessment of potential keywords.

Search volume is also an important factor while building content around certain terms and phrases. This is calculated as the average number of queries on a search engine involving a certain keyword.

The search volume is never accurate and is based upon estimated values and projections.

5.1.1.1. How to calculate the Search Volume of keywords?

The search volume is the first thing that is noticed while finalizing your list of keywords. It can be calculated using a large number of free and paid tools.

The most commonly used and popular tool for determining the search volume of a keyword or phrase is the Google Keyword Planner. Other popular options include Keywords Everywhere, Google Trends, Keyword Shitter, Answer the Public, etc.

5.1.1.2. Why is Keyword Search Volume Important?

The search volume represents the number of times a term is searched and it shows how popular that particular term is. The top priority while building up any kind of content is the user’s preference and that can be judged with the value of search volume.

The criteria for keyword search volume differs from each business and niche so while filtering out your keywords you must conduct thorough research. After that calculate a range of search volume in which your prioritized keywords must be present.

The search volume calculated by different tools can vary so choose the most reliable tools and take results from multiple platforms before coming to a decision.

5.1.2 Click-Through-Rate for Organic Traffic

The percentage of users that click on the search engines results of any browser represents the Organic CTR(Click through rate).

The CRT mostly depends on the web site’s rank, the higher the rank is the number of users clicking on the URL shown in google result will be more.

Click through Rate can also be enhanced by improving the title tag, description, URL structure and presence of content and graphic-rich snippets.

While searching for a keyword on Google or any other search engines, the users take a look at the top 3 to 5 results first, after clicking through any of these.

So, the first impression must be made to ensure that the user clicks on the website or blog and returns to it as well.

A high CTR Rate drives more traffic to your website and as a result, enhances the content reach to users. CTR is also a key factor in improving the google rankings of any website.

Google also considers this factor while ranking websites. More clicks on a result mean that it provides more relevant and high-quality content as compared to others.

5.1.3 Keyword Difficulty

Keyword Difficulty is a metric associated with keywords and it determines how hard it is to rank a particular keyword.

While prioritizing a keyword for your next website or blog, keyword difficulty factor must be carefully observed.

Some keywords have a high value of search volume, but the keyword difficulty level is so high that its almost impossible to rank them on the top three spots.

5.1.3.2. What is the significance of Keyword Difficulty in Keyword Research?

The keyword Difficulty level is an important factor while narrowing down your list of keywords to be utilized in your content. This is because some keywords are so difficult to rank that it is useless to waste your time and resources on them.

The keyword difficulty chart demonstrates what difficulty level is recommended while choosing keywords for your webpage or Blog. The higher the difficulty value, the harder it is to rank that keyword or key phrase.

The level of keyword difficulty is calculated based on the following factors :

• The Domain Authority of the websites
• Page Authority of web page
• Number of referral domains
• The relevancy of content to the searched query
• The content depth w.r.t top rankings for that particular search query

The most reliable tools for measurements of Keyword Difficult level include :

• Semrush
• Ahref
• Moz

5.1.3.3. Difference between Keyword Difficulty and Keyword Competition?

Keyword Competition is also termed as Competitive Density and it represents the number of advertisers or sponsors competing for a particular keyword or phrase. This term is associated with paid search only.

Whereas the keyword difficulty level represents the level of difficulty required to rank keywords organically on search engines.

5.1.4 Cost-Per-Click

The Cost Per Click(CPC) is the actual amount of money paid for each click during the marketing campaigns. The click made on an ad or banner which represents a user interaction and that interaction is paid for by the advertisement agencies.

5.1.4.1. Why is CPC Important in Keyword Research?

Cost Per Click is also an important factor while determining which keywords should we use in our content.

Keywords with a relatively higher CPC help you get monetary advantages with your AdSense account so that’s why it is important to keep this factor in check while shortlisting your keyword list.

5.1.5 Business Relevancy

After thoroughly observing important factors such as search volume, Cost Per Click, Keyword Difficulty level, etc the next thing to consider is whether the shortlisted keywords are relevant to your business or not.

You must be very well-aware of the scope of your business and the keywords chosen around which the content is built must act as catalysts in giving your business a boost or recognition.

For example, the keywords “Off-Page Optimization” has a good search volume, a nice CPC and a low competition but it is not relevant to our niche or business which is related to keyword research only.

5.1.6 Trending Keywords

Another important factor to be considered while finalizing your list of keywords is the Keyword Trends. The best platform for keeping track of growing or dying keywords is Google Trends.

You can simply enter a keyword into Google Trends and it will show you how the interest of that keyword is varying over time.

If the interest in a particular term will increase in the near future, then you must choose that keyword or key phrase even if the search volume and CPC values are a bit lower.